Starting Over
by finnicklover123
Summary: Katniss has been living in her hometown of District 12 ever since her parent's divorce. But when her mother insists that she move in with her, Katniss will leave everything she has grown used to, including her dad, and start over completely. She will have to get used to a new city, a new house, and worst of all a new high school. Modern Day AU.


**Hey guys! So I've written a couple of stories before but this is my first AU. I'm really excited about this and I hope you guys like it! Make sure to follow, favorite, and especially review, no matter how short. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Come on Katniss. Just give it a chance." my dad says.

I shake my head, "No, I don't want to go live with her."

My father sighs and looks at his hands, "I know you don't. But I can't provide for you very well anymore. I think it's best that you go live with her and Prim."

I roll my eyes, "She hates me." my dad is silent for a moment but I keep talking, "I don't want to start over when I've just started making a life for myself here."

"I know. But remember, your mother has full custody. If she thinks that I can't care for you anymore, she has the right to take you." my dad says.

"But you can care for me. What does she know. It's not like she ever tries to check in with me, see how I'm doing-"

"Katniss, stop. She's your mother. She doesn't hate you." he pauses for a moment before saying, "Your train leaves in an hour so you need to go finish packing."

I groan and stomp up the stairs to my room. I unzip my bag, open my closet, and start throwing clothes in. I hadn't even started packing yet. I think somewhere, in the back of my mind, I was hoping that I would get to stay. But now the day is here and my dad has made it perfectly clear that staying is not an option.

So here I am, trying to fight back tears as I throw the clothes into my suitcase.

I finish packing, zip my bag, and drag it downstairs to the front room. I slide on my shoes and run a brush through my long, dark hair in front of the mirror. I quickly braid it and go into the kitchen where I see my dad sitting at the table.

My whole family lived in this house, in a small town called District 12, for 12 years. Then my parents got a divorce and my mother wanted to move to Capital City. Prim went with her but I chose to stay with my dad. So this is where I've been for the last five years, but it hasn't been easy. My dad ended up losing his job and it was all he could do to make payments on the house. Eventually he had to get a job in the mines working long hours, in dangerous conditions for next to nothing. I found myself skipping meals so that when he came home from work he would have something to eat. When I turned 15, I got a job in a small market in the square. I didn't make much but, between us, we managed to keep the house and have enough food to survive. When my mother found out about our situation, she said it was unacceptable for me to be living in these conditions and insisted that I come live with her. My dad can't do anything about it because, like he said before, she has full custody. I don't even know how my mom found out. She rarely contacts me unless it's a holiday and she has made it pretty clear that Prim is her favorite.

I was taught that I needed to work for everything I got. Our house isn't very big and our town isn't very well off, but this is where I grew up. This is my home. The glossed, highly polished Capital City where everyone has more money then they know what to do with, that's not me. That's why I want to stay so bad. I haven't seen my mother or my sister in years, I don't know anyone in that city, and now I'm just getting thrown into it without any say in the matter.

I sit down next to my dad, "Look, I'm sorry. I know I don't have a choice, it's just-"

"I know. Don't worry. I'll be fine." he says, "I hate that you felt like you had to help me out the last couple of years."

I shake my head, "No, don't worry about that. You taught me so much, it was the least I could do."

My dad laughs a little, "Promise me you'll come visit me?"

"I would come every day if I could. Less time I have to spend in that city."

"Katniss, promise me one more thing. Will you keep and open mind about this?"

I sigh, "Dad-"

He puts up his hands, "I know how against this place you are but you need to give it a chance. Try to get out there, make some friends. Enjoy not having to work for a little while."

I laugh, "That's probably not going to happen. But if that's what you want, I promise I will try."

"Thank you. Now come on, you better go." he says.

I nod and stand up. My dad wraps his arms around me, "Goodbye Katniss."

"Bye dad." I say quietly, "I'll see you soon and I'll make some friends, I promise."

* * *

"Katniss!" I hear a high-pitched voice yell my name, "Katniss, over here!"

I look around and spot my sister, waving at me from across the train station. I walk over to her and she throws her arms around me.

"Woah, hey Prim." I say with a little laugh. I haven't seen her in two years. Now she is 13 and she has grown at least three inches. This makes me hate my mother even more for keeping her from me so much.

"Come on. Mom is waiting for us in the car." she says.

I follow her out of the station into the parking lot. She leads me to the car and I climb into the front seat in silence.

"How are you Katniss." my mother says.

I shrug but refuse to say anything to her. If I talk to her, I know I will start fighting with her and I don't want to do that in front of Prim.

My mother doesn't try to ask me any more questions so instead, I listen to Prim talk my ear off the whole way home about how much I'm going to love it here.

"And all the people are really nice so you can make a lot of friends. And the school is really good, it's supposed to be one of the best in Panem." she chatters on, oblivious to the tension that is there in the front seat of the car. When we get to the house, I open the door immediately, grab my bag, and walk inside, Prim and my mother close behind me.

"Where is my room?" I ask.

"It's upstairs, first door on the right." my mother says softly.

I head upstairs without looking at her and go into my new room. It's painted light purple color and has a queen size bed, a large desk, a set of dressers, and a walk-in closet. It's not as lavish as some of the other rooms but it's still more than I need. I unpack slowly, trying to avoid going downstairs but it looks like my mom had the opposite thought.

I hear a soft knock on my door, "Can I come in Katniss?" she asks. I sigh and open the door, letting her into my room. She sits down on the edge of my bed and folds her hands, "Look, I'm sorry I haven't tried to contact you more. I had no idea what kind of horrible situation you were living in-"

I chuckle, "You don't get it. It doesn't matter what my life is like, you still should have tried to contact me. You're my mother! You should care what's going on in my life!" I can hear my voice slowly rising as I get angrier.

"I do care what's going on. I've just been a little busy and I thought your father was doing well with you." she says quickly.

"He was doing well! He took care of me just fine. I didn't need to come here and live with you. I didn't want to! I would rather have stayed with dad." I say coldly.

My mother starts to say something else, but then closes her mouth, stands, and leaves without another word. I groan and collapse onto my bed, where I lay until Prim comes to get me for dinner.

"I'm not hungry." I say quickly. I don't want to go downstairs and face her. I feel horrible but at the same time, everything I said was true.

"Come one Katniss. Your first day of school is tomorrow. You need to eat dinner." she pleads with me.

"No, I'm not coming downstairs." I hear her footsteps walk down the stairs. But then I hear them coming back. She opens the door and hands me a bowl of stew.

"I hope you'll come eat with us eventually though." she says with a light laugh.

"Maybe." I say, and she leaves the room again.

I finish my food and set the bowl on my dresser. Then I take a quick shower, brush my teeth, unravel my braid, and get into bed.

I don't get much sleep though. I toss and turn all night, thinking about having to walk into a new school tomorrow. I know I promised my dad I would make friends but that's not really something I'm good at. Eventually though, I do fall asleep.

* * *

The next morning, my phone alarm goes off waking me up. I climb out of bed and stumble groggily into my closet. I put on blue skinny jeans, a green sweater, and brown boots. I brush my hair and put it in its usual braid. I head downstairs and start to go towards the door.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?" Prim calls after me.

"I'm not hungry." I call back and head out the door. I start walking towards the school and about halfway there a car pulls up next to me.

"Hey, are you going to Panem High School?" the guy in the front seat asks me.

I hesitate before saying, "Yeah, why?"

"You need a ride?" he asks. I glance at him again, judging whether or not to trust him. He has blond hair, he's pretty muscular, and he has gorgeous blue eyes. Besides, I'm probably going to be late if I walk all the way there.

"Um, sure." I say. I walk around the car, open the door and get in the car.

"So what's your name?" he asks me.

"Katniss." I say shortly.

"I'm Peeta." he says, "So are you new here or something?"

"Yeah, I just moved in with my mom. This is my first day." I say.

"Well, it's a pretty big school. Don't worry though, I'll show you around." he says with a smile.

At first, I wonder if he is trying to hit on me or something. But his smile is genuine, not flirty. I sigh, "Thanks. I could probably use that."

We pull into the school parking lot a few minutes later. He parks the car and we both get out.

"So you might want to go to the front office first and get your schedule." he says, "I'll wait for you though so I can show you to your first class."

I don't say anything, I just follow him inside. Why is he being so nice to me? I'm the new girl and no one ever notices the new girl in school, let alone tries to help.

He takes me to the office where the administrator gives me my schedule. Peeta looks at it before saying, "Okay, your English room is right down this hallway on the right. I'm not in that one but your second class is in the same hallway so you should be able to find it pretty easily. Do you want me to walk you there?"

"Um, no I'm good." I say. I start to walk away before saying, "Thank you though. You know, for the ride."

"No problem." he says.

I turn and head down the hallway towards my first class. When I walk into the classroom, there are already a lot of people in there so I show my teacher my schedule then take a seat in the back of the room. A couple of minutes after I sit down, I hear a guy near me whistle, "Who's the new girl?" I hear him say. I look up and see a guy with bronze hair and green eyes. A girl with long dark hair smacks him and sits down in the empty seat next to me.

"Hi, I'm Annie. Don't worry about him, he's like that with every girl. Are you new?" she says with a bright smile.

"Yeah, I'm Katniss." I say, "I just moved here."

She holds out her hand for my schedule and I hand it to her, "Oh good!" she says, "You're in my lunch so you can come sit with me and my friends."

"Really?" I ask.

"Yeah. I don't want you to sit by yourself." She says with a giggle.

English goes by pretty quickly, as well as my next class. Annie is in my third class, American History, again and right after that is lunch. She takes me to her table where I see the guy who whistled at me in English and Peeta, as well as a few other people.

"Guys, this is Katniss." she says brightly.

"Hey Peeta," I say, sitting down across from him.

"You know Peeta?" Annie asks me.

"Um, sort of. He gave me a ride to school this morning." I say.

"Oh ok." she says, "So let me introduce you to everyone."

Finnick is the guy that whistled at me earlier, and the rest of the people at the table are Glimmer, Cato, Clove, Marvel, Thresh, Johanna, and Jackie.

"So Katniss," Finnick says, leaning towards me, "When did you get in town."

Annie smacks him again, "Stop it. You're going to scare her off."

He laughs and I reply, "I actually just got here yesterday. I had been living with my dad in District 12."

"Why did you move?" Clove asks me. Clove has dark, wavy hair. She is pretty small but seems kind of intimidating.

"Um, my mom wanted me to come live with her. My parents are divorced and I hadn't seen her in a while." I say carefully. I don't want to tell them everything about my past. I mean, I did just meet them today.

They ask me a couple more questions but then start talking. It's mostly gossip about people I don't know. But then the conversation comes back around to me.

"So Katniss," Johanna asks slyly, "The winter dance is coming up. Think you might go?"

I shrug, "Probably not. I don't think dances are really my thing"

Glimmer groans, "Come one, you have to go. It's fun! We get all dressed up and we do each other's hair and makeup." She sounds really excited about that but honestly, that does not sound like something I want to do.

"I think I'll pass. I mean I just got here. I barely know anyone." I say.

"I bet someone will ask you to go." Thresh says.

"Why?" I say curiously.

"Because you're hot." Finnick says bluntly.

I raise an eyebrow at him but Jackie jumps in, "He's right Katniss. If someone asks you, would you go."

I shrug again, "I don't think anyone is going to ask me but maybe." I glance up and see that Peeta is staring at me. I look away quickly but the rest of lunch, whenever I meet his eyes, he glances away almost embarrassed.

The rest of the afternoon goes by pretty quickly and after school I plan on walking home but Clove stops me.

"Come on. I'll give you a ride home." she says. I accept and she leads me to her car along with Johanna and Annie.

As soon as we pull out of the school Clove says, "So did you really not see it?"

I look at her, confused, "See what?"

"The way Peeta was looking at you during lunch!" Annie says with a huge grin on her face.

"What do you mean?" I ask them.

"Are you brainless?" Johanna asks, "He likes you."

"What?" I stutter, "He just met me today. He doesn't like me."

"Yes he does." Clove says.

"I bet he asks you to the dance!" Annie says.

"He's not going to ask me." I say quickly. He doesn't like me, I'm sure of it.

"I bet you twenty bucks he'll ask you." Johanna says.

I scoff, "You're on." I say shaking her hand. We pull into my driveway and I say goodbye to the girls and walk into the house.

My mother is at work and Prim rides the bus home so she won't be here for a while either. I sit on the couch and think about what Clove said. He was looking at me a lot during lunch...but that doesn't mean he likes me. I've barely talked to him today. He doesn't know anything about me, he can't like me.

I groan, why am I so caught up in this? This doesn't happen to me. What is this boy doing to me.

* * *

**Alright, so that's it for the first chapter. Hope you guys liked it! Also, I will be doing review responses at the end of every chapter so if you leave a review you will get a response. Any criticism is good and if you see any mistakes please point them out to me so I can fix them. Last, if you liked this please check out my other stories as well! Next chapter should be up soon**


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